Today, esteemed Menahan Street Band announce their first album since 2012, The Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band, out February 26th, 2021 via Daptone Records, and release a lustrous new single, “Midnight Morning” (below). The Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band is a milestone that reveals new dimensions in tone and timbre, as well as mood and design. World-renowned artist, Ariana Papademetropoulis lends her imaginative style to help create the striking cover art; a visceral visual that pairs well with the arsenal of analog instrumentation employed in the making of the album.
The Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band is the group’s first album in nine years. Well known to the world as the musicians that accompanied the great Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones both in the studio and on stage, Menahan Street Band rise to the moment with a beat-forward, cinematic masterpiece. Produced by Thomas Brenneck in the collective’s very own Diamond Mine Studios in Long Island City, NY, the album is actualized with a mingling of hip hop, rock and roll, funk, and all of the eccentricities in between. Stand out tracks include the lead single “Midnight Morning,” followed by “The Duke,” “Rising Dawn,” and “Devil’s Respite.”
Menahan Street Band is an amalgamation of various musical disciplines spanning years of collective musical exploration by its individual members: Thomas Brenneck (Budos Band, The Expressions, Los Yesterdays), Dave Guy (The Roots, Late Night House Band, The Dap-Kings), Nick Movshon (Lee Fields and the Expressions, The Black Keys, The Avalanches), Leon Michels (Big Crown Records, El Michels Affair, The Black Keys) and Homer Steinweiss (The Dap-Kings, Holy-Hive, Lee Fields and the Expressions) – each contribute a unique perspective and approach. Set against the backdrop of their home base of New York City, they have yielded a signature sound that has been the foundation for some of modern hip-hop’s most successful beats; their music has been sampled by the likes of Eminem, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, 50 Cent, Curren$y, to name a few.
The Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band Tracklisting
- Midnight Morning
- Rainy Day Lady
- The Starchaser
- Silkworm
- Cabin Fever
- Rising Dawn
- Glovebox Pistol
- Queens Highway
- Snow Day
- Parlor Trick
- The Duke
- Stepping Through Shadow
- Devil’s Respite
- There Was A Man
Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez